Christavia Mark 1

9 posts in this topic

Posted

Anyone know anything about these planes?  I guess I'm about to find out.  Drug one home today.  Kind of a work of art in some respects.  Bit scared of the weight however.  But we will see.  

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Posted

No body fly one?   Got it on it's three feet today, and that much weighs about 390 lbs.  JImChuk

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Posted

A friend of mine owns one with a Honda conversion powering it, He has owned it for quite some time but is just starting to fly it this summer. The engine was giving him a lot of grief

with cooling and other issues. I've always liked the plane, they look really nice and seem to be well put together. It sure looks like someone did a nice job on yours, it should be a nice project.

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Posted

I've heard they are a very solid flyer. Never flown one myself but definitely one I'd like to try someday.  

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Posted

Hung the wings and tail feathers temporarily today.,  Weighs 640 lbs so far with bathroom scales, and lots of stuff to still go on.  It is amazing how heavy the lift struts and tail feathers are compared to a Kitfox 4. Bet the lift struts are 3 times heavier then the Kitfox 4.  And I think the same Kitfox lift struts are used in the later models with heavier gross weight.  Very nice workmanship though.  JImChuk

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Posted

I looked at that one on Barnstormers, looked to be built VERY well. 

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Posted

I looked at that one on Barnstormers, looked to be built VERY well. 

It sure seems like it was to me looking at it in person.   I do wish it was lighter though.  JImChuk

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Posted

I looked at that one on Barnstormers, looked to be built VERY well. 

It sure seems like it was to me looking at it in person.   I do wish it was lighter though.  JImChuk

Obviously he varnished/epoxied the wood really well, and coated all the metal parts and you cant do much about that, but for starters I would ditch all that cabin insulation. 

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Posted

That insulation was put in by the second owner.  I don't think I'm much of a fan of foam insulation for fire reasons if nothing else.  Not sure how much weight that adds, but I tend to agree with you on getting rid of it.  Also, would the foam melt when I cover the plane with polyfiber chemicals??  I'll go over the plane and see what all else I can get rid of.  It sure has a lot more in the panel then what is necessary for a bush type plane.  Other areas that may not have been real well thought out as well.  Second owner got rid of the manual trim, and put in electric trim.  But then he mounted the servo near the back end of the fuselage and ran a heavy cable from it to the trim tab.  I'll mount the servo on the elevator, and get rid of that extra cable for the weight of 4' of very light wire.  I think the second guy added extra weight in other areas as well that I'll get rid of.  JImChuk

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